Los Angeles Lakers: We are going to see a reinvented DeMarcus Cousins

One of the depth pieces that the Los Angeles Lakers added was DeMarcus Cousins, who hasn’t quite been himself since rupturing his Achilles.

After Kawhi Leonard decided to forego the Los Angeles Lakers for the Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers were left in a scramble needing to add pieces with the cap space that was being reserved for Leonard.

As a result, the front office has built a respectable rotation that is 14 players deep and should be deep enough to get through the grind of the regular season. Once the playoffs hit, that rotation dwindles down to 7-8 guys, which the Lakers should be fine with as well.

Perhaps the biggest name of the role players brought in was none other than former All-NBA center, DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins signed a measly one-year, $3.5 million contract, which is less than he signed last year with the Golden State Warriors.

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Cousins’ value absolutely diminished when he ruptured his Achilles in January 2018. An Achilles injury is known to kill careers in basketball and as a big man, nobody knew what to expect out of Cousins.

Cousins returned with the Golden State Warriors and had brief flashes where he looked like the same Boogie Cousins. Although it was not consistent, there were signs of him being back, although be dealt with more injuries as well.

A quad injury rendered him out of action for most of the playoffs and now that is a concern as well, even though Cousins himself says that his quad is 100 percent.

Regardless, the Los Angeles Lakers are taking a chance on Cousins and hoping that he can be just 80 percent of what he was pre-injury to help the team win an NBA Championship.

Luckily for Laker fans, it appears as if Cousins might be able to hit that 80 percent threshold and be a legitimate threat for the Lakers.

Even if Cousins’ quad is not exactly 100 percent at this moment like he says it should undoubtedly be healed by the time the regular season starts in October. It would take a freak accident or pure negligence to not have that injury completely healed by October.

And while the Achilles is always a concern, he will be over 20 months removed from the injury by the time the season starts. If he is going to come back from it, now is the time.

But the biggest reason to be optimistic is LeBron James. LeBron is known for making big men play up to their full potential and is going to have a field day with both Anthony Davis and Boogie in the frontcourt.

Just look at how good JaVale McGee played last year and look how good LeBron made Ivica Zubac look — so good to the point that the Clippers paid him $28 million this summer despite hardly playing him in the playoffs.

The dynamic of LeBron, Davis and Cousins has the potential to create something new the league has never seen, to create an offense that is unparalleled, similar to the Golden State Warriors during their dynasty.

This is a team that can not only rim protect and clean up the glass but can stretch the floor with the best of them. Both Davis and Cousins can shoot the three-ball and LeBron is the master at driving and kicking.

LeBron and Davis are obviously going to be the defensive focus early on, which is going to put Cousins in a fantastic situation to succeed. The pick and roll game and off-ball movement between the three in the front-court is going to be unlike anything that we have ever seen.

We probably won’t get All-Pro DeMarcus Cousins but it would not be absolutely shocking if the Los Angeles Lakers send three players to the NBA All-Star Game in February.

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DeMarcus Cousins is primed to finally overcome his injury woes and show the NBA that he still has a lot left in the gas tank. As a result, the Los Angeles Lakers are going to be a very fun team to watch.

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